REUNIONS
Watch this space for coverage of USS HUGH W. HADLEY Reunions!
14TH
REUNION
Our
fourteenth was held 17 May to 20 May 2001at the
Hotel Chamberlin in Hampton, Virginia . This hotel is located on
the grounds of historic Fort Monroe. This fort remained in Federal control
throughout the entire Civil War even though it was deep in Confederate
territory.
It
was an all navy affair with visits to the destroyer USS Mahan DDG72, an
Arleigh Burke class destroyer, based at the Norfolk Naval Station, and to
the
battleship USS Wisconsin BB64, for our Memorial Service.
The Wisconsin is now a museum ship based at the city of Norfolk.
Attendance
was grim with age making it's mark on the troops. There were sixteen
crewmembers in attendance for our banquet. Family and friends brought the
total
count to fifty-six present. Most of the no shows begged off for health reasons.
In
memoriam we must note our loss since Seattle. In the last two years seventeen
of our shipmates have passed on. Three in the month of May 2001.
Reunion
No 15, as of now, is to be San Antonio, Texas. Of course the year will
be 2003 and the month will be May. Other than that rest of the details are
still
undecided
as
of this date. Watch here for the details.
HOW IT ALL GOT STARTED
In a question to Doug Aitken about his involvement in setting the first reunion this was his response.
Yes, you are right - I wasn't there as my sister just died and I couldn't go.
I feel quite sure that Ens/later Ltjg Jim Daniel had the biggest part in the organization of it and the selection of Chicago. He was Special Assistant to the president of United States Steel at the time and had such things as an airplane at his call, and lots of pull in lots of places. (For example, at the reunion at Ft Lauderdale he brought, as his guest, his buddy, the former governor of Florida.) He was that kind of guy - former All American in football at Ohio State and staunch member of the Chicago Bears team. (He was a huge man, very outgoing, and came aboard Hadley with Mullaney at Mullaney's request. I think he was a guard or tackle) The reunion was at the Palmer House for a couple of days only, and was not very large as we didn't have any Tom English to locate people and no listings to amount to anything. It was a start. Tom Dwyer and I met with Jim in Wash. D.C. for lunch one day early in the year, and he laid out the plans for us.
I didn't get involved until #2 in '75 when I worked with Robbie for the reunion at the Del Coronado in San Diego, and from then on.
Doug
NO. 11, SAN DIEGO, CA, 1995, OUR MOST SUCCESSFUL
This one was our most attended. It was held at the Hanalei Hotel and was a huge success. We had some seventy-five crew members in attendance and a total of one hundred seventy-five people, counting family and friends, on banquet night. Thanks to Tom English, our finder, and to the correct timing. Just about all of us by now were retired and with the kids now out of the house. There was no excuse not to attend.
The banquet was held on night of our anniversary date of 11 May, our day of infimy at Radar Picket Station #15. This was truly an emotional event. For many first time attendees it was the first meeting of shipmates in fifty years. At this time of our lives those present are indeed the survivors. Ned Winder said the invocation. There were not many dry eyes in the room.
This is the last reunion to have pictures taken of those present. See the 50+YEARS Section to see those.
PAST REUNIONS
| 1. |
Chicago, IL |
1970 |
26 |
| 2. |
San Diego, CA |
1975 |
24 |
| 3. |
Fort Lauderdale, FL |
1978 |
18 |
| 4. |
Washington D.C. |
1980 |
19 |
| 5. |
Omaha, NE |
1982 |
27 |
| 6. |
San Francisco, CA |
1985 |
29 |
| 7. |
Charleston, SC |
1987 |
27 |
| 8. |
Colorado Springs, CO |
1989 |
38 |
| 9. |
Nashville, TN |
1991 |
40 |
| 10. |
Williamsburg, VA |
1993 |
51 |
| 11. |
San Diego, CA |
1995 |
75 |
| 12. |
Mobile Bay, AL |
1997 |
38 |
| 13. |
Seattle, WA |
1999 |
35 |
| 14. |
Hampton, VA |
2001 |
16 |
Right column is crew members present.
HONOR ROLL
| Mary Bell |
ALL 14
REUNIONS |
| Jan McGann |
ALL EXCEPT NO.
14 |
| Bobbie Robbins |
ALL EXCEPT
NO.14 |
| Martin Weibel |
ALL 14
REUNIONS |
| Doug Aitken |
ALL EXCEPT NO. 1 |
| Al Safranek |
ALL EXCEPT NO. 4 |